The name, Monte Cicogna, comes from a wooden hill in the middle of one of the vineyards. And it is with this brand that this ancient winery in Moniga del Garda, founded in the ’30s, has become known in time for a particularly ambitious interpretation of typical local productions, becoming at the same time an important name in the Lugana area.
“About ten years ago, we acquired about ten hectares in the town of Desenzano, near San Rocco, that we started planting from the beginning following a program that will end just in 2016 – says Cesare Materossi, left alone at the helm the company that until September of last year he led with his late brother Alessandro -. Lugana was undoubtedly an engine of development in recent years because it has helped us to enter in markets where we struggled to make ourselves known. ”
And so we can say that the celebrated Garda white wine was therefore confirmed a kind of irresistible locomotive for this family actually active to be exact since 1935, which now has 12 hectares in production in Moniga, two of which are planted with Riesling ( “We still believe very much in the potential that this variety is able to express in Valtènesi “, says Cesare) and the rest is dedicated to Groppello and the other typical grapes of the Garda Classico. If we add the 5 and a half hectares producing in Desenzano, we come to a total production of 120,000 bottles, 40,000 of which are Lugana (but they will become 90,000 when the entire estate is fully implemented).
Monte Cicogna is above all a beautiful place to visit, lost in the countryside of Moniga, not far from the lake: this is where the main vineyards of the company are, thr ones from which come the grapes for the celebrated Garda Classico DOC Rosso Superiore Don Lisander, the most important winery label that last year was also selected for the Merano Wine Festival with the 2011 vintage.
“We were the first winery ever to be selected for a prestigious event like that of Merano with this DOC tells Caesar -. It has been a real great satisfaction to be admitted in the élite of italian wine, and more so because we have also been chosen for our Lugana Santa Caterina 2014. A further source of pride, especially after a truly heroic harvest like the one of 2014. ”
In the Monte Cicogna range also stand the Beana, a Groppello particularly round, soft, almost silky, warm, which gives immediate pleasure, and the Siclì, a Moniga Chiaretto with a delicate pink color contrasted with a snappy and lively nature. But Materossi is also rightly proud of the Torrione, Riesling 100%, or 60 Mesi, a classic method with five years of yeasts on the shoulders that comes from a small vineyard of Chardonnay. There is also a small production of extra virgin, which comes from about 900 trees planted in the corporate seal.
“We export about 20% of production and arrive not only in Germany but also in the US and China – explains Materossi -. This year we will complete the investment as mentioned in Lugana: shame that about one hectare and a half of the first that we planted in Desenzano will be taken away from the work to the TGV, but we will resist. ”
The bottle.
Don Lisander was Alessandro Materossi, brother of the present owner’s grandfather, which bought the company in 1935: a high-profile figure for those years, hence the nickname of Don which was opposed to Lisander, dialect version of Alexander. Today, the wine that is dedicated to another Alessandro Materossi, the winemaker brother of Cesare, who died in September 2015, at the height of one of the best harvests remembered in the area. It was he who conceived many years ago this ambitious red, which explains Cesare “was created with the intention to enhance the special characteristics of our grapes grown here in Moniga”. The grapes for Don Lisander come from a vineyard of about 40: the harvest, for a percentage of about 50-60%, is placed in drying in wooden boxes stored in the loft for a period of one month and a half. After the blending, the wine is aged in barrels for a year and a half. And then a year in the bottle before facing the market. In short, no rush for a wine characterized by a remarkable longevity, if you think that Monte Cicogna is currently selling 2006 and that produced next year is 2011: the one presented in Merano, the one dedicated to the memory of Alessandro, whose character is still reflected in a product that is undoubtedly the most representative signed by Monte Cicogna, due to its ability to reflect faithfully in the glass the singularity and uniqueness of Moniga territory.
Leave a Comment